BBQ Ribs

These ribs may take ALL day to cook, but it is SO worth it. De-lish!

Ingredients:

• 8 country-style pork ribs 
• Dr. Pepper cola, not diet 
• 5 garlic cloves, slightly smashed
• 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
• 1 large onion, quartered 
• your favorite barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays)

Directions:

• Place ribs in crock pot and pour Dr. Pepper over ribs to cover. 
• Add garlic, liquid smoke and onion.
• Cook on HIGH 2 hours, then LOW for 4 hours.
• Place ribs in baking pan and pour BBQ sauce over ribs.
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 to 45 minutes. Or they can be put on BBQ grill.

'Better-than-Cafe-Rio' Shredded Sweet Pork

Seriously, I'd eat this every day. #1, it's made in the crock pot. Minimal work. I like that. #2, it's delicious! Just as good, if not better than Cafe Rio if you ask me, or my brother, or my brother in-law, or my sister, or my step dad... they all agree. Plus, the dressing is HEAVEN. I LOVE cilantro! Added a little extra. :)

I borrowed this pic from online. Forgot to take a pic.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs pork (or chicken breasts) *
• 16 oz bottle of chunky salsa (I used Pace Medium)
• 1 can Coke (any soda. I've used coke, coke zero, Dr Pepper.. all are yummy!)
• 2 cups brown sugar

Place pork in crock pot and fill it 1/2 way up the pork with water. Cook on HIGH for 5 hours. Drain off water. Cut pork in thirds. In blender/processor, mix salsa, sugar, and soda. (just enough so chunks are gone) Pour on top of pork. Cook additional 3 hours on HIGH. Shred pork with forks. Leave on low/warm until ready to serve.

*If doing chicken, cook in crock on LOW for 6 hours. Then drain water, pour sauce over chicken, and cook an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour. Shred chicken with forks.*


Dressing:

• 1 Package Hidden Valley Ranch
• 1 cup mayo 
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2-4 Tablespoons of LaVictoria Green Taco Sauce 
• I like to add a little lime juice (opt)

Mix in a blender/food processor.


Serve it as a salad, or burrito, or just over rice! Either way, you can't go wrong. Mmmmmmm......

3 Ingredient Pork Chops

3 ingredients. Crock pot. That's it. Gotta love an easy dinner. And it was really good! Definitely a keeper.

Ingredients:

• Pork chops (can also use chicken)
• Packet of Ranch Dressing mix
• Cream of Chicken soup
• 1 Can of water or another can of C of C soup (I used water this time, and thought the sauce was a little too runny. I plan to use another can of soup next time.)

1. Put meat in crock pot.
2. Mix ingredients together and pour over meat.
3. Cook on low 4-6 hours.

Barbecue Pulled Chicken

I found this recipe on eatingwell.com
I love using the crock pot, because then I don't feel like I did a whole lot to get dinner ready, and can ACTUALLY enjoy my food when I eat it. Yummy delicious food.

Ingredients:

• 1 8-ounce can reduced-sodium tomato sauce
• 1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, drained
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon sweet or smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard*
• 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Directions:

• Stir tomato sauce, chiles, vinegar, honey, paprika, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, ground chipotle and salt in a 6-quart slow cooker until smooth. Add chicken, onion and garlic; stir to combine.

 

* I didn't have dry mustard on hand, so I put a couple squirts of dijon. Still delicious!*

This is a double batch FYI. Had chicken that needed to be used, so I doubled and froze half for another dinner. I just wanted to clarify so you're not confused seeing all that mustard. :)

• Put the lid on and cook on low until the chicken can be pulled apart, about 5 hours.
• Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred with a fork. Return the chicken to the sauce, stir well and serve.
• This was great on buns, and I'm sure it would be great over rice, on salads, or regular bread as well.

• Nutrition: (just meat mix. Choose your bread/bun wisely) 

Per serving: 184 calories; 8 g fat ( 2 g sat , 3 g mono ); 68 mg cholesterol; 8 g carbohydrates; 3 g added sugars; 20 g protein; 1 g fiber; 257 mg sodium; 303 mg potassium.

Santa Fe Chicken

Mmmmmm.... and only 190 calories for 1 cup! Love it! Seriously IN LOVE with this new website. (new to me) skinnytaste.com  Check it out. Also counts for weight watchers points, if anyone out there is interested in that.

Over rice.

Ingredients

• 24 oz (1 1/2) lbs chicken breast
• 14.4 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
• 15 oz can black beans
• 8 oz frozen corn
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
  
• salt to taste

Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning. Serve over ric.

Mmmm... love it colorful!

Makes a great salad too!

This is for JUST the meat mix:

Servings: 8 servings • Size: 1 cup •
Calories: 190 • Fat: 1.5 g • Fiber: 5.6 g • Carbs: 23.1 g • Protein: 21 g

Sweet Barbacoa Pork

This one is for all you Costa Vida/Cafe Rio lovers! But unlike their 1300 calorie sweet pork salads... this one is only 202 calories per serving! (for just the meat part.) Gotta love that! This is from skinnytaste.com

 We made it into burritos and/or salads. Delicious!

Ingredients

Marinade:

• 2.5 lbs pork loin roast, all fat trimmed
• salt and pepper
• garlic powder
• 6 oz Coke zero
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (unpacked)
• 1/4 cup water

Step 2

• 8 oz Coke zero
• 6 oz can sliced green chilies
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp cumin
• 1/8 tsp chipotle chili powder (to taste)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (unpacked)

Season pork with salt, pepper and garlic powder and place in the crock pot. Add 6 oz of coke and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Marinate refrigerated for a few hours or overnight turning meat at least once while marinating.

Remove crock from refrigerator, add water, and cook on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily). Remove pork from crock pot and discard any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork with two forks.

Step two: In the crock pot, combine 8 oz coke, green chilies, tomato sauce, chipotle chile, garlic powder, cumin, chipotle chili powder and remaining brown sugar.

Put shredded pork back in the crock pot and combine with sauce. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, cover and cook on high 1-1/2 hours more.

 

Just for the MEAT mix:

Servings: about 10 • Serving Size: 3 oz •
Calories: 202.5 • Fat: 6.3 g • Protein: 26.2 g • Carb: 11.5 g • Fiber: 0.6 g

Boneless Chicken Cacciatore

I'm always up for trying new things. This is one I've never had before, thought it sounded good... and it was! Yay! I love it when that happens. :)

I got a new crock pot for Christmas and have been trying to find good recipes to make with it... I've made a few that I wasn't too happy with (the reason for my lack of posting)... Maybe I'll try those again with a few tweaks... but til then, here is the first crock pot recipe for this blog.

Ingredients:

6 chicken breasts, boneless (sliced in half)

olive oil

1 cup yellow onion, chopped

32 ounces tomato sauce

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp salt

2 tsp pepper

2 tsp garlic, minced

6 ounces sliced mushrooms (can/jar)

1 cup green pepper, chopped

1/4 cup dry red wine (optional)

Directions:

1- Coat bottom of a skillet with olive oil, heat on stove top set to medium heat, and brown chicken on both sides.

2- Drain and add chicken to crock pot.

3- Combine all other ingredients with chicken.

4- Cover and cook on Low for 5-7 hours or on High for 2-3 hours.

5- Serve over any pasta. (or rice, or nothing... whatever you want.)

Optional- Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese on top.

Wah-lah!

* Looking for BREAD STICKS to go with it? Try THESE ones! *

I seriously love it when my food it pretty and colorful when I cook. :)